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WikiLeaks said that "damning footage" had been released of a brief interview it conducted with Sweden's director general of legal affairs, Anders Ronquist, in which he says that someone could be held indefinitely until they were charged.

In the interview, in Geneva, Mr Ronquist said it was possible to have a person suspected of crimes, to be detained until charges have been made.

Asked if there was a time limit on someone being held, he replied: "There no limit", adding there was no objective under human rights law to fix a maximum limit.

On the cost of policing the embassy, WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson said: "It is embarrassing to see the UK Government spending more on surveillance and detaining an uncharged political refugee than on its investigation into the Iraq war, which killed hundreds of thousands."

The official estimate for police costs up to last October is £9 million, but that is now believed to have passed £10 million.